On Monday November 28th, Delaware Technical Community College, Delmarva Power and Exelon hosted a “Partnerships for Pathways” event at DelTech’s Sustainable Energy Training Center (Stanton Campus). The event featured guest speakers Governor Jack Markell, Governor-elect John Carney and Exelon’s David Velazquez. Gary Stockbridge, President, Delmarva Power moderated a panel discussion highlighting the Pathways to Prosperity program’s newest education tract – the energy efficiency pathway. The new pathway provides Delaware high school students the opportunity to learn competencies and skills to succeed in the expanding energy efficiency industry. Students enrolled in the energy efficiency pathway will learn terminology and concepts in the classroom. A key component of the training is applying learned concepts and this spring, students will gain hands on experience at Delaware Technical Community College’s energy laboratories. Delmarva Power provided a $720,000 donation to partially fund the new energy efficiency pathway.

The new pathway will help fill the local demand for jobs in energy efficiency industry. During the panel discussion, David Small, Secretary of Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control, stated that 250 sector jobs could be created the next few years. The Delaware Pathways to Prosperity program now offers 12 career training programs, including culinary arts, manufacturing, finance and computer networking and programming, with over 5,000 students participating in the programs. The Pathways to Prosperity program kicked off just two years ago with major support from the Delaware Manufacturing Association and Delaware State Chamber of Commerce members.